Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
-- Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5

Do Not Disturb Slim

Thursday, January 28, 2010

DON'T LET THE BED BUGS BITE

I did not manage to catch David the cat and the big fat hen together so I captured these shots of our birds at bedtime. Some will roost on the poles and others in the rafters. It is dangerous to go inside and count them every evening for fear of droppings from the ones in the rafters. That is where the guinea fowl love to roost so it doesn't conflict with the chickens. However you can probably guess that Jack Bauer requires the highest level so he's found an ideal spot were he can keep and eye on everyone.

22 comments:

Very neat pictures. Our neighbors chickens used to roost in a tree in our front yard and we used to joke you were a redneck if you had a chicken tree in the front yard, lol. I don't know what happened to them, but they don't roost there any more.

My only experience with chickens is when I was very young; I used to rake dried corn cobs along the wire fence to feed the chickens on my great-grandparents farm. I had no idea they would go up into the rafters like that!

Changes -- You can see the ones on the roosting poles are mostly fatties. Some have had their wings clipped. The ones in the rafters are young or very fit. Also the guinea fowl fly very well. None can fly long distances but they can get a good boost to flee a predator.

Bonnie -- There is not doubt I am a redneck. Yesterday a neighbor stopped just to watch our guinea fowl walking on the barn roof. He wanted to know what they were doing. "Showing off" was all I could think of.

Ralph -- Until I raised chickens, I did not know (nor did I care) that they slept. Now I know are care too much. Who would have thought it.

Tabor -- The first time I faced an attack by our old rooster, Boss Hog, I was afraid of even the hens. Then I was able to win a fight with him (kicked him several feet in the air with one swipe) and fowl intimidation ended.

Riot Kitty -- Dangerous is right and you certainly want to make sure your mouth is shut if you have to look up.

Kay -- All a child has to do to irritate a rooster is be short. If you have a mean rooster, he is even more irritated by short people who he figures as competition. That was the main reason we had to get rid of our old rooster.

I was raised on a ranch in Montana. It was too far to town to buy eggs so taking good care of our chickens was important. My grandmother used to check every night to make sure all the chickens were on the roost.

Stella -- In this cold weather it is nice to know we will at least have eggs if we run out of other food. We don't sell our eggs but we certainly get more than we need and our family and friends love farm fresh, genuine, organic chicken eggs. I could never go back to store bought eggs.

When I used to visit my best friend in junior high I loved her chickens. Her dad was the agriculture agent for our county and they had tons and tons of chicks and big birds. That developed my love of chickens and she wouldn't have a chicken today if her life depended on it. It is funny how persons who grew up with them don't find raising them appealing at all.

About Me

Favorite quote by Angie Worth: "Faith is what holds us together while religion tears us apart."
ABOUT ME: I avoid the news. I have turned off my political upheaval. My days of political activisim are supposed to be over. My hands have been thrown up in surrender and I try to be the best wife, mom, grandma, sibling and chicken farmer that I can be. "I am alive, I am alive by God's grace, I am living in God's care."

Counter-Terrorist Rooster

UNUSUAL HENHOUSE KIDNAPPING

Published in Countryside Magazine, Sept/Oct 2009 isue. A surprise in one of our chicken house nest boxes Be sure and click to enlarge.

POETRY PORTRAITS

Custom, descriptive poetry for all occasions. Granny Annie established Poetry Portraits by Angie Worth in 1983 and has written and sold over 1,000 since that time. "Angie Worth takes up where Hallmark leaves off" Lou Ann Ruark, Tulsa World, 1984